Symphony of Swords
by embraceofwings
Summary: Scott and a few unlikely allies must stop a hidden sect of Nephils  that have been created and trained for an inconcievable task, to eliminate The  Holy Trinity.
1. Prologue

Symphony of Nightmares

Prologue

Awake in the darkness, of a quiet, simple field I could always find comfort in the lacklight and solitude of the

witching hours. No one to bother me, nowhere to be, no one to answer to, or for. This... darkness was my haven.

The loneliness in a crowded sanctuary, the absolute quiet was quite the auditory spectacle to behold. And then,

that familiar knock of wood striking wood and the whoosh of bodies flying to the ground with each mistake they

made befell my ears as dawn broke once again. It was music among barked orders, the sound of pain when I fell

like all the others. It meant I was still alive. It meant that I was alive when I should have been as dead as the

dry, yellow tinder grass that crunched beneath my weight as the inner circle of Fighting Nephils taught us pain,

and then ruthlessness as they struck again and again and again until we felt only nothing through our shattered

bones and shredded skin. Flesh ripped from fragments that were once solid bone burned as our mentors lit our

still alive, yet broken bodies ablaze. But despite all this, we were still alive, we still felt! For, we were Nephillim,

the undying, the heroes of old, the abomination that was the result of the union of man and the fallen. We did

not dare utter a cry as the pain refused to cease, we all knew that this was an unfathomable crime in the eyes of

our mentors. A crime to which no punishment was severe enough.

We were the heroes of old, we did not succumb to old age, but some of us (like me) are still only in our teens or

younger. We all once had false parents, lying guardians, and most of us had felt the pain that came when the

fallen angels occupied our bodies during that accursed month. _Cheshvan_. the name burns my tongue and leaves

a bitter taste even after it's sound has gone into the past once more. Our prowess was, to a certain extent, our

bane and the source of our pain, our immortal qualities allowed the fallen ones to strike at our deepest fears and

control our bodies like rag-dolls and puppets for that eternal month. Soon all of this would come to an end, but

not in the way that any could have anticipated... or planned.


	2. Rise To The Fall

Chapter 1: Orior

(_Be mindful that __most__ of these names used are biblical and I, by no means, own any of them as my own creation.)_

I was one of the 'watcher' Nephils according to the warrior council in our branch of the Blood Society. To be an

official Watcher was a great honor to have bestowed upon you, it meant you were strong, agile, well-hidden

when you wanted to be, and you could strike at a moments notice without leaving a trace. Many longed to be

Watchers, but few were granted the position. My mentors claimed I was a 'prodigy' among the warriors, but I'm

not sure how they came to that conclusion.

"Hey Eri!"

"AH! Oh, Uri it's you."

"Well who the hell else would be crazy enough to try and sneak up on a damn Watcher?"

" Forcas?"

I figure you should know that Forcas, our friend, could nearly disappear whether he just wanted to scare the

living crap out of us or if he wanted to pull a prank on the damn protectorate of the training 'dojo' for lack of a

better term.

" Maybe!" she laughed out.

Uri just laughed that spirited laugh that just made you feel good. She was just so strong at heart, and such a

pleasant soul to be around that... well I can't explain it. If you knew her, like _really _knew her, than you would

understand; however, she was left behind more times than I like to think about. The way I saw it, it was their

loss.

" 'Maybe' she says!" I chuckled out back.

Uri often checked up on me when she wasn't supposed to; but I didn't mind, I loved her company. She was like a

sister to me, and not the obnoxious, snotty, know-it-all sister-type. She was like the kind of sister that you could

always talk to, always ask for advice from, always lean on if you needed a crutch and I was proud to have her as

my friend. Anyway, like I said she often checked up on me when she wasn't supposed to, like when I was out on

security for the sanctuary after recovering from the day's "lesson". Our unnatural healing abilities allowed us to

heal from near obliteration fairly quickly even without the Society's magic. However it was by no means

instantaneous.

On our borders I watched vigilantly for any one who ventured too close, and killed any of The Fallen who came

within earshot of our sanctuary. Angels, fallen or not, don't die easily, they were like us in that regard, but that's

why I was a Watcher. We used weapons like swords, daggers, Bows, etc. Even though we did use modern steel,

polymers (plastics), our weapons were primitive compared to other human weapons as far as technology goes,

but humans forgot long ago that the 'basic' weapons that they dubbed obsolete were the only things that could

hold the supernatural... abilities that were required to make the Fallen fear us and stay away. Usually.

" What's up spazzes?"

" AH! Forcas? Where the hell did you come from?" said Uri,

" I was behind Eri the whole time the whole time."

" From where?" I asked, left dumbfounded by him yet again.

" Huh? Oh! After Underwood started raving at you. Something bout' not being ready?"

Underwood was the self-proclaimed commander of the watchers. No one, and I mean NO ONE liked him or

followed his orders; however, he was blind to that fact, so he just stomped around like he was all that. Oh! And

you should also, probably note that he would be at his happiest at my funeral.

" Yeah, the flesh around my hands weren't healed up completely."

" Is it better yet?" Uri asked,

" Yeah, it's all cool now. How bout' your burns?" I replied,

" Me or him?" Uri said

" Both."

" They're fine." they replied simultaneously.

" Jinx! You owe me a soda" exclaimed Forcas,

" No way!"

Then, from a distance away we heard the shuffle of footsteps and the crunching of plants so I followed my

instincts and jumped into the tree that I was posted in. It was three stories high, but because of my advanced

Nephilim strength I could make it in about 2 to 3 bounds. I looked around, but saw nothing. Then I pulled out my

Strider knives, pulled on my cowl and turned to tell Mihr and Forcas to head back to their rooms and wait for me

there, but there was a shadow creeping up behind them quietly, quickly, methodically, confidently.

I jumped from the post and descended upon the shadow creeping up on Mihr and Forcas with my knives without

saying a word. "AHHHHH!" Uri screamed as Forcas brought her down to the ground softly, surrounding her in his

grip. '_My family __will__ be safe.'_ I thought as I landed upon the shadow with a loud _thud_. It laughed as my knives

plunged into what should've been it's heart and neck and then spoke in _voices_. Yes, plural, voi_ces_. and whispered

"Death can't find me. I'm just a messenger."

" Messenger of what? Hmm? WHAT!" I yelled as I picked him, or her, or... whatever, up and slammed it back into the ground.

" Your destiny will slaughter your loyalty."

" Which Loyalty! Who sent you! ANSWER ME!" I screamed with worry evident in my speech. Whatever this thing was, it then cast me into a state of Phobia that I couldn't fathom as I loosened my grip on it.

" Death came for your kind once before. He will be sent again soon enough, and you and your friends will become what you fight."

" Angels?" I then inquired with renewed confidence as the shadow proceeded to evaporate into thin air as my fear subsided.

Forcas must've brought Uri to his dorm because there were footprints going away from where they were when I

jumped.

" What in the HELL was that all about?" Forcas said from behind me (I wasn't surprised he traced me back around)

" I don't know... Is Uri alright?" I said as I placed my strangely immaculate knives back in their sheaths.

" A little shaken up from when you jumped at us with those damn knives flashing, but other than that she's good." Forcas said with hidden, lingering concern.

" I didn't mean to scare you guys, but I'm not used to other people being around..."

" When you're fighting." He finished my sentence exactly.

" Yeah"

" It's alright. Don't worry about it, you were doing your job."

" Thanks Bro."

I didn't want to talk about what that...thing said. Not yet.

" Where did you bring Uri?"

" To my dorm."

" Good, she'll be safe enough there. I'll meet you there in a little bit."

" Alright, later."

I needed some time to think.


	3. The End

Chapter 2: The End

_Be aware that in this chapter I quote lyrics from a Death cab for Cutie song called " _I will follow you into the dark" _and I, by no means claim ownership, or credit for the song or it's lyrics. (P.S. Death Cab for life!)_

I was disturbed by the message conveyed to me. I knew that I had to tell Uri and Forcas, but I didn't know quite

how; I mean, I didn't know how they would take the warning. " We'll find out soon enough I guess." I whispered

to myself as I started walking back to my post. When I got there, Underwood and two other Watchers were

waiting.

" What do you need?" I asked in the most collected tone I could muster,

" I need to know why you aided in an intrusion."

" What the hell are you talking about Underwood?"

" I'm talking about the strange fact that screams and a slapdash interrogation were heard by these two gentlemen no more than a few minutes ago, yet there's no body, no angel's wings, no residual energy from the death of an immortal, not to mention the fact that you weren't at your post." The bastard was as high-and-mighty as ever.

" There was an intruder, I interrogated it, it vanished. That's the story."

Underwood moved uncomfortably close and whispered, " You know what treason means, don't you?"

" I know full well."

" Then tell me everything."

I knew that they would throw Forcas and Uri to the hounds if I mentioned that they were out after base curfew,

and forget about seeing them ever again if I told Underwood that they were visiting me on while I was on watch.

Underwood was ruthless, cunning, and persuasive to lesser men.

" Like I said, something came, I took it out, it vanished."

" That doesn't explain the screaming... Boys! Find the sneaky bastard and the little... Oof!"

He didn't have to finish his sentence, he would have them tortured until they told him what he wanted to hear. I

delivered a punch that would have broken rock to his gut, sending him flying into a nearby wall and then I started

running towards the two other Nephils. They were weak and they were inexperienced, nothing but glorified

lackeys. One threw a straight right punch at me while the other fumbled with his gear, so I deflected him and

used his own momentum and sent him into the tree, head first. After I took him out, the other came after me with

the knife that he finally managed to get out with a terribly telegraphed over-head chop, so I met his wrist about

halfway down with my hands and then I dodged behind him, immediately after the dodge I pushed his arm

forwards thereby forcing his knife into his back. He fell with a muffled scream. After that engagement, I knew that

the whole of Nephilim society would think that me and my friends were traitors. I also knew that because of this

little incident that me and my friends would have to leave. Forever.

When I finally reached the dormitory section of the sanctuary, dawn was starting to break. I rushed in and found

Uri and Forcas in Forcas' room.

" Underwood...asked...intruder!" I managed out between heavy breaths,

" Whoa! Slow down Eri. What about Underwood?" Uri said,

" He got to my post...thinks I aided intruder...coming after us all!" I was starting to catch my breath,

" What the hell did you do?" Forcas exclaimed,

" What do you...think?" I replied, almost recovered.

" Oh shit! here they come!" Uri said looking out the window,

We were boxed in, no way out. " Then I guess this is our last stand... Brothers to the end?"

" Sister!" Uri said as we proceeded to form a circle and do the cliché all hands in.

" Damn, this is corny." Said Forcas,

" Whatever dude!" Uri and I said simultaneously

Footsteps were thundering up to the room. I looked at my family one last time and said, "I'll take the center."

" I'll take the left." Uri said

" I'll take the... wait aren't we immortal?" Forcas said,

" No. How do you think we kill fallen angels?" I replied, throwing him some replica ninja stars made out of the

same 'enchanted' metal as my knives.

_BOOM! _They kicked the door down and we took our guys on.

~~Eri~~

Flashing steel, flying fists, blood spattering, this was combat. The rush was...Indescribable. I felt nothing but

madness as I ran and jumped from target to target, slashing arteries, stabbing organs, ripping throats, slicing

through the wave of bodies. I lived for the fight. This was me, and nothing could distract me from completing my

objective...kill 'em all. "What's burning?" I thought to myself when I smelled smoke.

~~Uri~~

This was it. We weren't going to fade silently into the darkness, nor could we escape that darkness which was

set to inevitably consume us. The guys didn't notice the ragged book I carried as we heard the other Nephils

coming up. Heh. I'm small but I don't think they'll expect this, _**BOOM!**_ " THAT HURT?" 1,2,3,4...30? Damn, I think I

impressed my self with that bolt. They never asked what my training entailed! Time to go home. Where's Forcas?

~~Forcas~~

Those dumb bastards will never find me.

"AGH!" Tango down,

"Backstabber, a-hole. This is just too easy."

" What was that?" another Nephil said

Ah shit, well... there goes stealth. I wanted to go ninja on 'em but you gotta do what you gotta do.

" Bring it on!"

" What are those little things gonna do? Huh? can't throw them stars from here, now can you?" One of the largest Nephils said, standing right in front of me "AGH!"

"Stars aint just for throwing smartass. Maybe you should have fought instead of talking."

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... I think I'm just going to stop keeping count.

"AGH!" another down.

" You're dead! You hear me? DEAD!"

We fought countless waves of our once friends. Underwood would pay dearly if he came in that room, but he was

a coward. The room was filled with the screaming wounded and the rapidly stacking dead, it stank of burning

flesh and fear, and Uri, Forcas, and I were all beaten and bloodied, but we refused to yield to death, we refused

to break. We fought for probably about 20 minutes in the medium sized dorm room until the mounting bodies

started to form a makeshift barrier between them and us.

" They just keep coming!" Uri exclaimed while she let more of her magic loose on the fools who tried to climb the barrier ( which surprised me greatly). " I didn't think that there were this many people in the sanctuary!"

" There aren't, Uri!" Forcas said jokingly while throwing more of his stars.

During a 'segue' between attacks , for lack of a better term, I looked over to Uri, I saw that she was burnt from

some backfired spells and had scrapes and bruises all over her. Looking over to Forcas, well, he had been

fighting with fractured ribs ( I could tell from his movement.) as well as gashes galore. I looked down at myself

and realized that I had almost as many gashes as Forcas as well as a throbbing arm, which I knew was broken

or severely dislocated. needless to say, our clothes were little more than blood-stained rags at this point, Forcas

and I had already lost our shirts which were shredded through the course of the battle and our pants were

shredded at the knees and near the ankles, but Uri's clothes were still for the most part intact; however, her

sleeves were smoldering as well as the ends of the jeans she wore, which were shorts at this point. I knew that

with the injuries that we had sustained that we wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

" If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing." I said, physically exhausted.

" Heh! neither would I, bro." Forcas replied, struggling out breaths,

" Hey, Uri. Where the hell did you learn that fire, light thing?" Forcas said after a brief pause

" What do you think I did... when you guys... went to train?" Uri was drained from the battle, she was pale and her speech was weak, _and_ she was holding her side.

" Whoa, there! Take it easy. You've done more than enough already." Forcas said with grave concern unusually apparent while he aided her into a well covered corner where she could rest.

" I'm going home... finally. Heheh!" Uri said, exposing a wound deep enough to fit your fist into,

" What? NO! No, no, no, no, no, no, Uri! We'll patch you up! Don't worry!" I didn't know how the hell she hid the wound, but I should've seen it! How could I have not seen that damn thing? I mean, it was practically gushing blood!

" Go home... Leave here. Be safe, we'll catch up soon." Forcas said with tears being squeezed and forced out of his eyes, but still remaining calm and sullen.

Uri looked up at us one last time, her complexion now pale as snow, smiled, closed her eyes one last time, and

let out one last breath.

"NO! Uri, come back! Oh, God. NOOOOOOO! URI!" I was in complete hysteria as I pleaded and cried for her to

come back until Forcas grabbed my shoulder with an assertive gentleness as he said " She's gone and there's no

way to bring her back... And she was in so much pain that..." at that, Forcas started to become almost as

hysterical as me, but he recollected himself soon enough and continued. " She was in so much pain that it would

be a disservice to her to bring her back anyway." Forcas was too choked up to talk anymore. What Forcas said

pulled me back to reality. It was sobering, but there was something that I couldn't explain. It felt bigger than us

and the battle. We were both still crying rivers while we said our final goodbyes. Forcas had known her longer

than I, so he said his goodbyes first. He leaned in close and whispered something unintelligible from where I was

into her ear, kissed her cold, cold, forehead and then let me say what I needed to say. I needed to take a

moment to gather myself, and then I uttered, " Uri, you were, _are_ my family. _*sobbing*_. And if heaven and hell

decide that they both are satisfied... illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs, then I will follow you into the

dark. *_more sobbing*._ See you soon, kid." and then I leaned in and held her limp, cold, body in my arms and then,

I let her body fall to rest in that corner of the room.

In my head I could still hear her laugh and my memories of her passed by my eyes in an instant and then...

nothing. I was numb to everything. I looked up at Forcas, who was numbed by her death too and I said,

" Let's ride out into battle one last time."

" Let's show these bastards who they're screwing with."

" For Death."

" For Glory."

" For Uri." we said simultaneously after a brief pause.

We began to hear what was left of the Sanctuary trudging up the stairs along with the distinct clinking and

crashing of armored Nephils. Forcas wiped his tears away from his eyes and said,

" They're singing our song."

" Back to Back, or charge straight in?"

" Charge."

" 'Till death..."

" AHHHHHHHHH!"

Our war cry was something that would have shaken the very bowels of the earth. We met the enemy head on in

our fullest anger and glory. even the most hardend, battle-tested, Nephils were frightened by us as we attacked

in wide, fast, reckless strokes. We chopped through our 'friends', one after another after another. Then, we came

to the armored division of the attack after all else had perished before us. I looked at Forcas one last time,

nodded and said " Brothers 'till death." He replied with a solemn nod and then we let out one last cry and hurled

ourselves to our doom. We were chopped to pieces in seconds, but our cries rang forever in the souls of those

who were there that day.

_"Hey! for those of you who may be reading this thinking, "That's it?" No. That's not it. I know I titled this chapter 'The _

_End', but it was supposed to be metaphorical. I don't know how many chapters I will write for this story, but it will be _

_bada$$. I can promise that much. ( Oh, and as a side-note, check out Nikaya's page. That author is phenomenal!)"_


	4. Who is, Who was, Who will be

Chapter 3: Who is, Who was, Who will be

A few brief seconds of physical pain, and it was all over. All of it. I couldn't fathom how I was still conscious. My

confusion was about as Monstrous as the headache that seized me by the temples.

" Ow, my goddamn head."

" I must ask that you do not use my name in vain. Especially in my own realm." the words rolled smoothly, yet sharply. Scolding, yet comforting.

" What the hell is this? Some sick parlor trick?" I said,

" Ah, I forget that you are not accustomed to my realm. Come, there are things you must see."

I had an overwhelming sense of comfort and warm embrace that was enveloping me as I stared into the infinite

whiteness that was my prison. No, no it felt more like...a home. " You and your friends are the spawn of man and

the dissenters, those who have left the path. Many of your kind think that you are alone. That you have no one

but yourselves. Nothing could be farther from the truth, for I do not blame you for the sins of your fathers; I am

with you. I have lost faith in your kind when there were none like you, or Forcas, or Uri. When there was no

honor, loyalty, love, or trust, I was convinced that you Nephilim were your fathers, and hence the Great Flood

descended upon your earth." The disembodied voice said with pity and authority. This thing that claimed to be

God, was a paradox in all it's inflections and energies.

" Wait a second, Where is Uri? Forcas?"

"Calm my child, there are as safe as you."

" And how safe is that?"

" Hahahahahaha! I like you more and more with each passing moment! Lucifer himself could not touch you here."

" Where is ' here'?"

" The promised land, the valley of milk and honey, or as you earthly beings call it, Heaven."

" Bullshit."

" I would appreciate it if you refrained from using such vulgar terms in my presence."

" Okay, how could this be Heaven if I killed more angels and other Nephils than I could possibly count? 'Thou shalt not kill' much?"

" I pardon those who are just in their cause in my eyes, those who are defending themselves from an aggressor of a wicked nature, and those who have no other feasible option remaining when an order is given."

" So, anyway, what you're telling me is that my friends are in this place?

" Yes."

" How can something exist in nothingness?"

" Your journey out of Purgatory is almost at it's end."

" Purgatory! Well that would've been a handy little piece of information, don't you think?"

" I was about to explain, but you beat me to it. You and your friends are the ones I've been waiting forever and a day for."

" Hold up a second pal! Why would you be waiting for us?"

" Because my angels have been waiting for you all."

" Why?"

" Because they have faith in you and your friends."

These words struck me like a grenade at my feet, blowing me away. I was bewildered. Why? Why would angels

have faith in me and my friends? We were the sworn enemies of angels _altogether_. We preferred fighting the

cursed fallen, but we slaughtered true-to-god angels just as well.

" The time draws near for you to meet your patron angel."

" I still don't understand, why Forcas, why Uri, why me?

" It will all be revealed in time my dear child. Ah! The time has come!"

At this, everything dropped. I feel into an infinite whiteness with a velocity which I would have otherwise thought to be unobtainble.

_I apoligize in advance if you all don't hear from me for while, but life dosen't slow down so you just have to keep pushing, am I right? :)_


	5. Shrouded In Light

Chapter_ 4: Shrouded In Light_

_Whoosh! _I fell, and fell, and watched as my short life passed me by in the infinite whiteness. My early years of

free innocence and benign ignorance to all the world's evils, the fallen angel to whom I had once sworn fealty

and his stalking and skulking of me for those many years, his vile torture of me, each and every Cheshvan in

which he occupied me, The Black Hand's freeing of me from my Fallen, and everything up to this point in my

existence. " Your friends have strong hearts and strong souls, just as you do. Ah! They are waiting for you."

" Wait, wh...? Oof! Ow." I found myself suddenly lying face down in the middle of a quiet field, it stretched on for

forever and for all time. It held a quiet peace about it. All I could hear was the subtle rustle of the soft, tall grass

as I rolled over to see where I was, but all I saw was a bright, blue, summer sky with but a few gentle wisps of

cloud flowing and draping here and there while I unconsciously brushed my hands on the grass that rose above

me. I couldn't feel anything but peace of mind, happiness. I stood up and felt a gentle breeze and a comforting

warmth on my skin as all I saw ahead of me were fields of grasses and grain, the faint smell of new flowers and

of crisp, clean air on an early farmer's morning. There was no blinding sun, it was just... light. The sounds of

distant, echoing laughter and singing of innocent children at play. No fear, no animosity, no pressure to do

anything. Nothing but perfect. It was like the pleasure you feel on the journey to an anticipated event multiplied

by infinity and taken into the depths of forever. It was undeniably Heaven.

I stood up and felt...weightless. As I looked around I saw the most beautiful flowers and hills, all rolling softly,

gently over and to the horizon. Then, I looked down at myself and saw that I still had my torn cargo pants on and

I still had no shirt, a busted watch, my dusty, dirty combat boots, and my injuries. The same as when I left.

Strangely enough, though, my wounds didn't hurt. The gashes were wide open, my arm was visibly swollen, but I

felt normal. Like there was nothing there.

And then, I heard the peaceful sound of a lazy river dribbling over rock in the tree line behind me. I went after it

in the hope of finding some way of washing myself off a little; however, I soon found myself in an oasis. Beautiful

angels in crisp, white, draping robes that emanated a very Greco-Roman style. I felt a soft, gentle touch on my

shoulder and a voice, as sweet as honey, said, " Welcome home, Eri." I could not believe my ears as I heard her

voice. I wanted desperately to turn around and just hold her close, but I just stayed where I was and closed my

eyes tight. " If my ears have placed some spell on me, I must ask that you remove it and end my suffering... my

aching."

" This is no spell, and no trick. Your ears haven't lied to you. It's me Eri."

Upon this, I didn't even have time to process what had been said. I whipped around and held her close to me, an

apparition, a trick, or the impossible... it didn't matter, " Uri." I said with tears of joy and of pain. I sobbed like a

child for a few moments, let go, opened my eyes once more, and there she was. Uri. Her hair was braided on

either side of her head. These braids were pushed behind her ears, allowing only a few lengths of her

immaculately clean and straight hair ahead of her ears. her blue eyes were deeper than ever. There was a lotus

in her hair. She wore the same white robes as the angels surrounding the pool, but on her... it looked more

elegant. She hadn't a speck of dust on her and she radiated with a joy which I had never seen before in my

years of knowing her. " I missed you kid!" I said with more euphoria in my heart than I had ever felt before as I

gripped her again. " You too! They will clean you up and make you look like a _proper_ angel!" She said with a

thorough happiness practically busting out.

" What's up with you, huh? I've never seen you like this before!"

" I think I'll keep that to myself. Now go!" she said with a wide, wide smile.

" Hey!" I said,

" What?"

" Can I see you again?"

" Of course you can, you derp!" She said with laughter.

I stepped away and turned to the pool and as I approached, an angel stepped out and ( before I could react), it

ripped my boots from my feet sending me to the ground. Hard. I looked up and said, " What the hell was that?"

It looked at me and I heard it in my head saying that I needed to undress before I could touch the pool.

" You're joking, right?"

" No."

" Everything?"

" Yes."

" Not with all of you around!"

" We wash."

" But..."

_Crack!_ The angel, of all things, flicked my head with tremendous strength. " OW! That hurt."

" We wash you."

With that, I knew that there was no arguing with this one. It was dead set on washing me, so I awkwardly

undressed and stepped into the pool. I felt smooth rocks and pebbles on the bottom of my bloody feet as I

stepped farther and farther into the unnaturally warm water and then, the angels stepped in around me and

began to wash my scrapes, cuts, bruises, etc. with rocks like the ones that I was standing on. I fell, floating on

my back in the clear, clear water. As I felt my wounds fall off like scabs, their presence calmed me. I felt like

a newborn being swaddled by their mother. I felt safe, secure.

Finally, they were finished. They stepped away and I came back to my feet. As I started out of the pool, I felt

stronger than before. Not quite weightless, but it was something else for sure. I stepped back onto the land and

found robes like the ones Uri was wearing laid out on a boulder. I slipped the soft clothing on and brushed my

hair with my hands. My high and tight crew cut looked strange with such elegant clothing, but hey! Strange is the

story of my life! I thanked the angels for everything and stepped out of the spring with darting eyes looking

everywhere for any trace of Forcas or Uri, but it was in vain. Nothing could be found. So, with confusion and

concern I started running. I went for miles and miles until a white pavillion with greek columns and a dome came

into view. It was completely out of place but I saw two people walking into it, so I broke into a sprint with

a smile on my face and a warmth in my heart. It was like a late afternoon light that was out at this point, it cast a

faint orange, summer glow on everything.

I came to the pavillion and paid no heed to the raised step to get onto the white cobblestone floor, falling flat on

my face. "HAHAHA! Fail!" Forcas said as I ran up to him, bro-hugged the hell out of him, and then I said, " Forcas,

You glorious bastard! Haha!"

" God couldn't even fix you, you derp!"

" Great to see you too!"

He was all cleaned up and wearing those robes that Uri and I had on, and his long brown hair was brushed

back,revealing the mutton chops nobody really knew about except for us.

" I think those gulllible bastards are going to have a hard time recovering from that!" I said to our little trio,

" No doubt!" Uri exclaimed,

" Just promise me you won't die on us again." Forcas said playfully to Uri.

I was too overwhelmed to do much but smile and laugh. Just smile and laugh. Forcas, Eri, and I had little time for

celebration, though. Soon, nine lights descended upon us through the middle of the now illuminated dome; a

booming voice that was vaugely identifiable as the one I spoke with in purgatory came from the largest orb of

light and said, " Ah! My children, you have found each other! This makes me happy."

" You said earlier that your angels were waiting for us." I said,

" Yes."

" You never answered why."

" You see, as I said to you, I had once lost faith in your kind. Nephils are, at heart, jealous of angels and my

kingdom. Your brothers and sisters seek to destroy fallen angels, but your leaders seek to destroy me and my

trinity."

" What!" We all exclaimed,

" Yes. You all have loyal, courageous, and faithful hearts. That is why you all have been chosen to be a means to

an end."

" Wait just a minute. You brought us up here just so you would throw us back down _there_!"

" Not exactly, you will be trained by my angels in combat, medical techniques, and so on up here. You will be an

unstoppable fighting machine; however, you will need a contact of sorts on earth."

" Scott Parnell." I said

" Yes, this name is known to me. Ah! He is an excellent choice. You met him on his old, what do you earth walkers

call it? ...Football! On his old Football team." The voice replied. "These lights behind me are my archangels and

they will call to your souls. They will individually condition you in a... speciality."

" And when did we sign on for this?" Forcas asked angrily,

" You were marked by your own actions. Your destiny can change our fate, remember that."

And at that, the largest orb faded away, and we heard a whisper in our minds. _Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, _

_Cassiel, Zadkiel, Ariel, Metaron. _We heard these names on repeat in our minds as we were frozen in place, unable

to move or speak. The whisper slowly grew and grew into a choir. It felt like every thought in the universe was

concentrated on those eight names and directed into our minds. Soon we heard drums and fanfare blasting

behind the names as the orbs started spinning and spinning, all blurring into a color that I had never seen

before and then, nothing. I blacked out.


End file.
